Tobias ALEXANDERSSON - interview

Tobias ALEXANDERSSON is a 32 years old swedish fighter. He is 4x WPMF World champion and faced superstar fighters as AEKPRACHA, BERNUENG, LAMSONGKRAM, PANOM, DEJRIT, Youssef BOUGHANEM and many others. Here is interview.

Tobias ALEXANDERSSON : As a kid I loved watching the movie "Kickboxer" with Jean Claude Van Damme and started to try different martial arts. I tried Jiujutsu, Taekwondo and Kickboxing but those styles were not for me so I continued looking around and finally ended up in a pure Muay Thai gym in a city next to mine and I got hooked straight away.

What has attracted you ?

What attracts me is the clean strikes preformed with good balance, power and also the use of different gameplans and strategies to win the fight. To me the sport is raw but yet beautiful.

How is muaythai in Sweden ?

Swedish Muay Thai has pretty good quality, some fighters have a focus on clean and hard strikes, good balance and timing, as well as good knowledge of the clinch. But unfortunately it is still many who have "kickboxing style" and I think that has to do with the scoring system in Sweden which is more amateur based, where it can pay of to be active in the first few rounds, even if you get dominated towards the end.

I once heard a Thai trainer who said something like, "You can start the fight as a kitten but finish like a lion, but if you start like a lion and finish like a kitten then you're screwed". Hopefully the professional scoring system will take over in the future.

Another big difference between Sweden and Thailand is the use of elbows. It can make a big difference in the fight, but there is more and more shows that allow elbow strikes in the main events so it´s moving in the right direction.

Also the training is quite different. In Thailand it is pretty much the same routine every day (which I prefer myself). It contains mostly of pads, sparring and clinch while in Sweden it is more varied training to keep up interest of the members in the gym.

Is it hard to be a professional fighter in your country ?

There are a lot of events held in Sweden but the money and sponsors are next to nothing so as a professional there isn´t much to gain.

When having an upcoming fight I obviously have to work (I am a carer that helps people that has autism) besides taking care of the gym and my family so of course it´s hard some times.

You have your own gym in Sweden (019 Boxing Gym). How did you decide to open it ?

Me and my friends used to have muay thai classes in a Mixed martial art academy and we wanted to have our own place to train.

The gym has 2 groups (beginners and advanced) with 20-25 boxers in each group and I teach both groups after I´ve done my rounds on the pads.

What kind of fighter are you ?

I´m mainly a physical fighter, during my fights I like to keep pressure on my opponent.

Of course I have a few weaknesses but the main thing being my height, I´m pretty much always the shortest compared to my opponents.

I like elbows too but it is easy to get caught while trying to land one of my own. As my friend Leo Monteiro use to say "Don't go out in the rain if you don't want to get wet" hehe

How many scars you have ?

Hehe, not sure... wait I try to count for you... About 20 on my head and face all from Muay Thai.

What does your wife say about that ?

Hehe, I tell her that she will never get bored of me because I look different after every cut. Face lift. I have been with her since 14 years almost so she wont get away

Do you have children ?

Yes we have a son named Odin that is almost 2 years old.

A future fighter ?

Hehe not sure. He likes cars but he likes to hit us also, so we will se. I start to play with him with the focuspads

Your next fight is against Samy Sana. What do you know about this fighter ?

I know he fought Yodsanklai Fairtex, Thongchai Sitsongpeenong.

It will be your second fight in France. The first one was against Damien Ozenne. What can you say about this fight ?

I was contacted 6 days before the event and was asked to replace Berneung. I lost the fight on points but I felt that the win was mine while controlling the clinch in the fight.

You are 4 times WPMF world champion. Could you tell us how you won these titles ?

I recently won my 4th title in Ayutthaya about a month ago during the celebrations of Naikhanomtom (Father of Muay Thai). The first title I clamed was 168 Lbs title during Queen's birthday celebrations in Bangkok 2011 against Laurent Taneve, the referee stopped the fight in round 4 after I gave Laurent a standing 8 count.

The second title was on king's birtday 2011 in Bangkok vs Panom Topkingboxing for the 160 Lbs title which he held during that time.

I knocked Panom down with an elbow in round 2 that led to an 8 count and after that the war was a fact and I got 2 or 3 big cuts on my face but I was still ahead on points to get the win.

The third title was 168 Lbs title in 2013 against Samuel Andoche, I knocked him out with a punch to his stomach in round 3.

The title you havn't got is the Rajadamnern Title, as you lost against Lamsongkram in 2012. Is it a big regret ?

Yes, it has been my main goal since I started competing in Thailand.

Lamsongkram is very skilled and technical and he used his range to his advantage very well in the fight.

You faced Bernueng 3 times, how different were these 3 fights ?

The first fight was a big war, the second fight was also a war but not as big, it got stopped in round 4 because I got to much blood into my eyes, the third fight I made a shit performance and lost on points.

When you are in Thailand you train at Kaewsamrit Gym. Why did you chose this gym ?

Back in 2004 during my first training trip I stayed at a gym called Kiatchansing that used to be the base of Bovy Sor Udomsorn, the following year when I went back to that gym it had been closed and the boxers contract had been sold or they had stopped fighting, one of the gyms that had bought some of the contracts were Kaewsamrit gym and I got the information that Bovy and my padman Ta had ended up there so I decided to go there myself.

Kaewsamrit has a good reputation and has produced many great boxers as Anuwat Kaewsamrit, he is probably the best known out of them but Singmanee and the twins Rittijack and Yuttajack were in their stable at that time to.

When i am in Sweden, they let me know when they want me to fight through my manager Danny Carlsson who speak Thai fluently. I always arrive about 4 or 5 days before each fight and they treat me as a family every time.

How do you feel in Thailand ?

I feel great, I love the food, weather and laidback atmosphere. I go there to fight or whenever me and my wife are going on vacation, we always end up over there even though we sometimes speak about going to “different places next time”

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